Thought: Cairo's Night Life

One of the things that I will NEVER get used to in Egypt, is that Egyptians love the night-life. Now, I haven't really determined what the actual reason is, but I have a feeling it originates from the fact that it is much cooler at night. Our family still operates on a pretty typical American schedule. That is, we try to go to bed by 10:00 PM. Now one thing that helps us do that is we have to wake up pretty early. We have to be at school by 7:30 in the morning to attend the teachers' meeting, and school starts at 8:00. We leave our home at 6:45 AM to be able to arrive on time. It does not take us 45 minutes to get to school, but we have come to realize that if we leave any later than this, the traffic is already getting bad, and that can cause delays. So, Tim and I get up at 5:00 (sometimes Tim is up earlier than this), and we wake our son at 5:30. It is so quiet in Cairo at this time in the morning. It is actually quite nice.

Now another thing that is quite annoying to us Americans, is that most shops and businesses do not open till at least 10:00 AM. This, of course, is due to the late-night hours they operate by. Also, their meal schedule is quite different. Breakfast is usually around 10:00, lunch around 4:00 in the afternoon, and dinner is around 10:00 PM. Typically, lunch is their biggest meal, and dinner is usually lighter.

There are Egyptians, of course, who operate somewhat more on an American-type schedule due to their kids having to be to school early etc., and I do not want to lump all Egyptians into this "night-life" habit. I know I have some Egyptians who read this, and I would love to have some of their feed-back on this. I definately do not want to put across anything that isn't true. I'm definately not the expert on these things. I'm just writing what I have experienced.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures to go along with this post because I am never awake to take the pictures of how Cairo comes alive at night, but I promise to try my hardest when we get back to Egypt to get some.

Now, my "thought" on this: Sometimes people can tend to be a little judgemental when it comes to differences in the habits of other cultures. I know I have been on this particular issue. I have thought, in the past, that this habit is soooo wrong. Why do these people have to stay up and visit and socialize so late into the night, keeping me and my famiy awake. But here's what I have come to realize. (This is a "duh" moment here.) I am living among 18-20 million Egyptians in Cairo. Am I so ethnocentric to believe that they are all wrong and I am right? Well, I'm working on it. I think it has helped to live in another country, and to realize that people are people, no matter where they live in the world. I will never be able to change the way an entire people group live and function, so why criticize and dwell on something which just makes my life more miserable. I think it would do everyone a bit of good to be able to live in a different culture at one point in their lives and realize this. Maybe the world would be a better place.

Biscuits and Gravy

In the States, especially in the South, Biscuits and Gravy is a very popular breakfast food. If I were to mention "biscuits" in Egypt, that would mean something more like a cookie. This is something that originated from British culture, but the American biscuit is very similar to the British scone. It is a pretty easy meal to make, not to mention that it is also very inexpensive, and all of the ingredients are staples usually kept in all kitchens.

I'm probably a little prejudice, but my Mom makes the best biscuits and gravy I have ever tasted. Now, while this meal is fairly easy and inexpensive, if you make the biscuits from scratch it can take a while. One thing that can make this meal even quicker is that here in the States we have canned biscuits. Now don't get me wrong, homemade biscuits from scratch are always the best, but there are some brands of canned biscuits that are really good.

It's kind of sad that I have only had biscuits and gravy once since we have been back, and that was at a restaraunt. If you have never had biscuits and gravy, you should give it a try. I have supplied the recipes below.




Biscuit Recipe:
*2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour
*2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)
*1/2 cup (113 grams) cold butter, cut into small pieces
*3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
*1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:
*1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.


Gravy:
*5 tbsp. unsalted butter
*4 tbsp. all purpose flour
*Approximately 2 cups milk (vitamin D milk, not skim, fat-free, fat-less, or other, and nothing heavier, it won’t work.)
*Salt
*Freshly ground black pepper


Melt butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Add flour and combine. Add ¼ tsp salt and around 10 grinds pepper.

Stir until the flower is about the color of peanut butter and smells nutty. Add ½ of the milk and increase heat to medium.

Allow to come to a simmer, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. On the first run, the gravy is likely to nearly seize, be ready with more milk.

Add milk by quarter or half cups until gravy has thickened considerably. If using a whisk you’ll know the gravy is ready when drawing the whisk through the gravy leaves “tracks” from the wires that remain visible for at least 5 seconds.

Add at least 10 more grinds pepper and another pinch of salt, to taste.

Recipe can be doubled if needed.

Additions:

If you like your gravy with a kick, feel free to add a dash of cayenne powder or ground chili. You may also add cooked sausage, or ground beef.

Then......and Now

This is the oldest picture I could find of all five of us together.

This is our family about a month or two before we moved to Egypt.

This picture was taken about midway through our time in Egypt together.

This picture was the last one taken of our family all together while in Egypt.

This is the most recent family picture. It was taken 2 years ago, so the kids have changed a bit. Hopefully, we will have another picture taken this summer.

I love looking at pictures of our family. Sometimes, I really miss the times when our kids were small. I miss holding them on my lap. I miss the funny things they said and the funny way they talked. I also miss the fact that I can't take care of all of their hurts with a kiss. (Well, that still works for our youngest Levi sometimes.) ;o)

On the other hand, there are advantages to having your kids grow up. You don't have to take them to the toilet. You don't have to get all of their food ready for them before you can sit down and eat your own. You also don't have to listen to them cry when you say it is bed-time. It is fun though (and sometimes scary) to see them devolop their independence and start making decisions on their own. It is also nice to see them develop into an adult and start to live "life on their own".

Our two oldest kids have started this journey. Our daughter, who is the oldest, is attending University and is getting a degree in English literature. Our second, just recently graduated from high-school. He will be going to a military academy this fall. Fortunately, the nest isn't empty yet. Our youngest still has three years of high-school left.

I was looking through some older pictures of our family the other day and I decided post some pictures of how our family has changed through the years. Hope you enjoy them.